Disaster & Weather Related Services and Issues

Mission Statement

It is the mission of the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency to assist the community in efforts to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters whether natural or man-made that affect the citizens and visitors of Jefferson County.

What is the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency?

The Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency is a governmental office under the Chief elected official (County Mayor) of Jefferson County. The Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency (JCEMA) is the central point of contact for local government for all major emergencies and disasters. JCEMA works in partnership with local state and federal agencies as well as industry and volunteer organizations.

JCEMA's activities include:

Provide Emergency Planning JCEMA researches, revises, prints and distributes the Jefferson County Basic Emergency Plan. Assist with the development and implement various emergency response and recovery plans for City and County government. These plans will enable our local government to operate sufficiently during inclement weather or other disaster situations. JCEMA is also working with the local jurisdictions to create a Hazard Mitigation plan to assist in the lessening of disaster related impacts to the citizens of Jefferson County.

Provide Training to Emergency Responders and Public Organizations JCEMA will host/present training classes and/or presentations to response agencies, doctors, nurses and public organizations on topics such as Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Incident Command, Hazardous Materials Response, and Weather Spotter.

JCEMA has partnered with the Jefferson City Fire Department to create the Jefferson County COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (CERT) This project teaches members to be self-reliant during a disaster, and then to assist their community until emergency personnel arrive. They can also be utilized along with emergency personnel at large events, missing person situations, and other activities. To find out more about CERT, go to www.citizenscorp.gov, or contact Michelle Matson, CERT Coordinator at tenn185@netscape.net.

JCEMA has also partnered with Sheriff G.W. “Bud” McCoig to create the Jefferson County VOLUNTEERS IN POLICING (VIPS). This program has trained to assist law enforcement by using skills to help at accident scenes, public events, and many other situations. To learn more about VIPS, go to www.citizenscorp.gov, or contact Art Bohanan at cbcprints@yahoo.com.

Provide Citizen Preparedness Information JCEMA provides disaster related information to schools, civic organizations, individuals, and businesses. This information is intended to assist citizens in preparing themselves to be self-reliant in the event of a disaster.

Participate in Emergency Exercises JCEMA participates in numerous emergency exercises every year. Each exercise is evaluated to determine its effectiveness and suggestions for improvement.

Provide and Maintain EOC Facilities The 9-1-1/JCEMA facility houses the EOC - Emergency Operations Center. This is the central meeting point for the City and County Mayors, Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, American Red Cross and others to coordinate response and recovery efforts following a disaster.

Mobile Command Post Purchased through Homeland Security this regional command, control and communications vehicle is available to use at emergency scenes and it is also used as a staging area for responders in the event of a problem or emergency during special events.

Grant Administration JCEMA administers several State and Federal Grants which provide emergency planning, training and equipment to emergency responders, hospitals and volunteers.

Duty Officer A duty officer is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Duty officers are on call to respond to the scene of emergencies such as severe weather, train derailments, hazardous materials incidents, plane crashes, mass casualty incidents and the like. The duty officer is contacted through Jefferson County 9-1-1 or the State Emergency Operations Center.

*** The bullet in red is omitted until the new building is completed.

EMA NEWS

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Jefferson County is a designated Storm Ready community by the National Weather Service. It was one of the first counties in East TN to earn this designation. The Storm Ready designation is awarded to counties that show a proactive approach in assisting the NWS in disseminating weather information within the community. For more information go to www.stormready.noaa.gov

FEMA has declared Jefferson County a disaster area for the storms of February 28, 2011 and April 27, 2011. This qualifies Jefferson County to apply for assistance under FEMA’s Public Assistance. Public Assistance is given to governmental and non-governmental agencies such as public utilities. This will allow those agencies to recover funds expended during those storms at a rate of 75%.